etrianfandomcom-20200214-history
Zodiac
The Zodiac is a class from Etrian Odyssey III that specializes in astrological magic to deal elemental damage. They would be the magical component to any generic RPG party. Zodiacs also return for Etrian Odyssey Nexus as the sole elemental magic damage specialists, though they have also adopted a few skills from their Runemaster and Warlock counterparts to improve their efficiency. The Zodiac is like an Alchemist without the poisoning aspects. They are the reliable class for high elemental damage and dispatching any enemy that has a high defense or resistance to physical attacks. They wear Clothing and cannot equip any special weapons. Books are the ideal weapons for a Zodiac, as they usually come pre-forged with TEC attributes. They would have the lowest starting STR in the game if it weren't for the Farmers. While they have a high output, they cannot take too much damage, courtesy of their horribly lacking defenses and HP. Gameplay They play like an Alchemist, though with only the basic Fire, Ice and Volt elements. With their Star and Binary skills, they can inflict elemental damage upon an enemy or enemies respectively. Physical damage they deal with Meteor comes at a high price, but it is their highest-damage spell. Is best used in conjunction with a Gladiator's Charge. Their only real defensive capability comes from their elemental Prophecies, which will negate the specified elemental attack directed at the party and counter with a powerful elemental attack. They also have a skill that can nullify TP spent by a certain row. Zodiacs are a class to invest into and will pull their weight in any party with powerful skills, but they have terrible TP efficiency, somewhat buffered by the strategy of one Zodiac using Dark Ether on other Zodiacs. Aside from that, they are useful in all combat situations provided you have a living front row and your Zodiac is not a part of it. Stat Progression Does not include any stat bonuses from skills, equipment, Books, or Retirement. EO3 = |-| EON = Skill Tree Etrian Odyssey 3 Skills are listed in the same order used in the game and do not necessarily unlock one after another. See the "Requires" column to see how to unlock a skill. If that cell has dashes in it, no other skill is needed to unlock it. Skills are normally maxed at level 10, but there are some exceptions where the level cap is 5 or even 1. * Class Skills are passive benefits unique to the primary class. * Mastery Skills are prerequisites for skills and equipment, along with a minor passive benefit. * Passive Skills automatically grant bonuses or effects whenever conditions are met. * Fire Skills, Ice Skills, and Volt Skills are elemental attacks/spells that depend on TEC for damage. * Bash Skills deal bash damage. * Special Skills encompass any ability not covered by another category. * Search Skills are only used out-of-battle. * Extra shows skill detail or any special bonuses that are gained at certain levels. Etrian Odyssey Nexus Novice = |-| Veteran = |-| Master = Subclassing EO3= As Main Class: Gladiator: For Meteor-based builds; stacking Berserker's Vow and Charge can lead to devastating damage output. However, this is very TP heavy (which may need the support of a Ninja/Zodiac for Dark Ether) and can leave the Zodiac vulnerable when activating Berserker's Vow (which may need the support of a monk only slightly slower in speed than they for healing, or the addition of a Hoplite or Prince with Bodyguard). Arbalist: '''As well as being able to equip Crossbows, this gives them access to Elemental Barrages and perhaps most importantly, Double Action. Recommended for Elemental-based Zodiacs. '''As Subclass: Ninja: Keburi no Sue mitigates a great deal of the ninja's TP consumption, rendering Dark Ether a free ticket to at least one row of your party never using TP. During turns when the rest of the party isn't using TP heavy skills, the ninja can use them to set up Otori and Kumogakure to make themselves a reliable dodgetank, or can even choose to dispense elemental damage using a nigh-unlimited TP source or deflect enemy elemental attacks with Elemental Prophecies. |-| EON = Subclass for Zodiac *'Protectors' help keep the squishy Zodiac alive, with shields and passives which boost survivability. The protector's Guard skills work fine at half rank, while Recovery Guard also lets you remove your own head binds, and the elemental Wall skills cost much less TP than the Zodiac's Prophecies for when you want to save TP. *The Medic has general-use healing skills that let the Zodiac perform as a backup support. The Zodiac's own Wisdom stat and incredible TP reserves let them both attack and heal. *A War Magus subclass also offers faster but weaker healing for emergencies, but has some decent passives for the Zodiac. War Edge Master actually works on all forms of damage, giving the staff-wielding Zodiac a passive all-round damage boost with their spells. HP Up and Status DEF Up are still useful passives to have. *A Shogun subclass is taken for two reasons: Bloody Lance and Peerless Demon. The former is for boss fights which summon flunkies; the Zodiac's impressive AoE damage will give them plenty of opportunities to gain the Bloody Lance buff and do even more damage to the boss. The latter combos incredibly well with Meteor, and a Spread Ether-enhanced Meteor will definitely reach its max bonus cap for most of the hits. *Oddly, Landsknechts actually give some good skills for the Zodiac despite a general physical focus. Single Devotion is undoubtedly a great passive to invest into to amplify the Zodiac's own damage output, and Vanguard gives a nice speed boost to let the Zodiac snipe elemental weaknesses quickly. Access to shields offsets their poor physical defense, and perhaps Break skills can back up the party with debuffs. *'Imperials' add to the Zodiac's elemental damage as the sole source of Elem ATK Up. Absorber adds to some TP sustenance when striking elemental weaknesses, although the regeneration coming from an Imperial sub will not be great. HP Up also offsets the Zodiac's poor health pool. Zodiac as Subclass As the sole attack spell specialist, Zodiacs make for great subclasses for high-INT classes to actually use their superior Magic Attack stat with the Star and Binary skills. The Prophecy skills can also be used for elemental damage immunity which a Protector subclass cannot provide, but care must be taken to ensure that the Prophecy takes place before the target gets to move. *'Medics' have generally poor damage output if they're supporting the party from the back. A Zodiac subclass lets them do proper damage when they don't need to heal or support otherwise. *'Sovereigns' with investment in their own elemental Arms skills now get access to elemental damage without needing to rely on Element Bomb. The elemental Arms will also improve the strength of the Zodiac's own attack skills, to boot. *'Arcanists' also can use elemental Stars to go on the offensive without needing to dispel a Circle. *'Imperials' gain access to TP Up to improve their poor TP pool, and Singularity amplifies the damage done by their elemental Drive skills on anything with a weakness. If enough skill points are available, Free Energy can help with greatly discounting their heavily expensive skills. Gallery Zodiac group.jpg Category:Etrian Odyssey III Classes Category:Etrian Odyssey Nexus Classes